Good evening, Madame Mayor, Esteemed Councilmembers,

I live in the impacted area.

Let’s start with the current issues facing residents in the Disneyland area.

First, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC, and MORE TRAFFIC! We have to live with traffic jams on a daily basis, with road closures and detours at the will of Disneyland events as a bonus.

People come to Disneyland to have fun, but the local residents bear the grunt of endless problems: air polution, daily traffic congestion, and noise pollution. Residents on Walnut St. bear a special burden of trespassers, tree works and munching noise, incessant traffic noise, no street parking, vandalism, to name just a few.

Within walking and BREATHING proximity of the proposed construction site are public schools and community facilities that thousands of residents occupy on a daily basis. The traffic problems will only get worse with a project of this scale.

These traffic problems affect the daily life of tens of thousands of people. It is already a bottle neck for parents to drop off their kids at school in the morning around the Disneyland area. Stoddard Elementary School, for instance, is ONLY one block away from the proposed construction site. Down the street on Walnut is Betsy Ross, also with hundreds of students enrollled. There is also the YMCA Complex where students spend their after-school hours.

A project like DisneyForward will only further exacerbate the current problems and harm our health. Take noise pollution. This project will violate THE LAW OF NOISE PROTECTION IN CALIFORNIA, Health and Safety Code 46000. And I quote:

(f) All Californians are entitled to a peaceful and quiet environment without the intrusion of noise which may be hazardous to their health or welfare. (g) It is the policy of the state to provide an environment for all Californians.

But how many residents in the impacted zone are not even aware of the scope of the proposed project and how it will hurt their lives for years to come? Imagine having construction cranes flying over in the sky as you come home from school, hearing heavy machinaries moving about all day long and shaking up your neighborhood. Imagine having to shout every time you need to talk to your children because the construction zone drowns out your voice.

When you vote, put yourselves in the place of the residents and answer these questions:

  1. Am I willing to put my family in harm’s way by voting for this project without understanding the full costs that come with it?

  2. Is it ethical for me to ruin the childhood of so many children who will have to suffer from noise pollution, air pollution, and all sorts of disruption to their lives should this project ever happen?

  3. Do I have the right to disregard the voices and concerns of the people who are directly impacted by this plan simply because I do not live in this zone and will not need to account for the negative consequences?

As a mother of three young children, I would like to ask each of you to imagine yourself having to tell your own children, especially school-aged children, that as their parents, you had made the WRONG choice to make a home for them in Anaheim. That because the City decided to approve this project, you will now be driven out of your home by this frenzie of noise, dust, and overflowing traffic. If you cannot imagine yourself doing that, then do not condemn residents like myself into that wrecking situation.

At the moment in the proposal, there is a blatant absence of consideration for the right to a peaceful and safe life for impacted residents. It is imperative that the City of Anaheim inform the public in clear and truthful ways about all the hidden costs, the inavoidable risks, and the endless problems that come with the DisneyForward proposal through communications that are NOT wrapped in convoluted double talk. Community outreach and public notification should also reflect the demographics in the area and account for the launguage plurality of the residents.

But first and foremost, to disregard the human costs from a project of this scope is unthinkable. There is the noise pollution, the drain on our local and natural resources, the environmental impacts from having an intense conglomeration of hotels and resorts in a concentrated area like Disneyland, and so on and so forth.

Today, I am thinking of all the residents who can’t be here. Many residents are entirely left out for one reason or another. In my diverse neighborhood, there are retired teachers, young families, expecting parents, people with chronical conditions, folks with mobility restrictions, elderly people who are confined to their homes, people with disabilities, immigrants who do not speak English, etc. How possible is it for all these residents to carve out the time to be here to share their concerns? What have you done to ensure that these residents fathom the scales of changes and disruptions that the proposed project will impose upon them?

When I attended the informational session last Wednesday, I was told that the Environmental Study for this proposal was supposed to be a “public process.” But how do you define “public process” when impacted residents are NOT even considered in the study? Somehow, even though the project is located within a densely populated area, the human occupants of that “environment” had no say and no voice in the study? We were rendered mute. And this is appalling and unacceptable.

For the city of Anaheim to undertake a project of the scope of Disneyland Forward WITHOUT the considerations for the harm and repercusions to its own residents is unacceptable, unethical, and unsustainable.

There is much to be done BEFORE this proposal can be considered. I ask that the City of Anaheim ensures that every aspect of the proposed project be vetted and consulted by ALL residents. The City of Anaheim ought to take serious steps in treating residents as stakeholders and include all voices in the planning and decision making. The key is to communicate fully and clearly to the residents, in public announcements and in local media, the costs of the proposed project, in a language that is free from technical jargons and accessible to all.

I command you to vote NO on this item until the proper and ethical public discourses and engagement are carried out. Here are just a few requirements:

  1. Conduct a comprehensive and INCLUSIVE study on the harms and costs that this project will cause local residents;

  2. Provide listening sessions for residents to share their concerns and input on the project and whether it is the right thing for Anaheim;

  3. Immediately enable a public forum with transparency and integrity to facilitate discussions from residents and concerned citizens;

  4. Provide a clear study of the impacts of the fiscal implications this project will impose on the local community - for instance, a project of this scale will suck up a large amount of water, which is a precious resource in our city, and consequencely will drive the cost of water up for all residents.

Taking Magic Way away from the public will cause more bottleneck traffic on Ball and Katella and the adjacent areas. Cerritos is FOREVER chopped up. Let us not block off another road from Anaheimers and generations to come.

This entire week, all third to eighth graders in the state of California are taking the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. You can imagine how busy and tired our scholars and their parents are. So I applaud all of our parents who have taken the time to share their concerns today.

All of my children are testing this week, so the last thing I need is another meeting on a weeknight. But here I am, because I need to voice my rights for a peaceful and safe life in my own neighborhood.

As elected officials, your job is to represent us, the people of Anaheim. We want to make sure that you do not take lightly our trust, our votes, and our voices. The American democracy is structured in a way that enables all voices to be heard.

Your vote will speak the loudest - whether you are a public servant, or NOT!

Disneyland claims to be the happiest place on earth. We ask that you do not vote for Disneyland Forward to turn our neighborhood into the unhappiest place on earth.

Thank you!